1. Technical Field
The method and apparatus herein described relate to the manufacture of surgical needles.
2. Background of the Art
Surgical needles are known in the art. Typically, a surgical needle has a barrel end to which a suture is attached, and a tapered end which terminates in a sharp tissue piercing point. Optionally, the needle may be ground and polished to have cutting edges as well as a sharp point.
In some applications it may be desirable to have a blunt needle without a sharp point or cutting edges. Blunt needles can have a tapered or non-tapered tissue piercing tip which is capable of penetrating delicate organs, such as the liver, or soft tissue, such as muscle, fascia, adipose, etc. An advantage of a blunt needle is that the needle does not cut friable tissue such as the liver, and may reduce the likelihood the needle may penetrate cutaneous tissue, (such as the skin of the surgeon's hand) under operating conditions where the needle is not under the surgeon's direct vision. Thus, the tip of the blunt surgical needle is adequate for certain surgical procedures performed inside the human or animal body, while protecting friable tissue and offering the surgeon a degree of safety from inadvertent needle stabs.
Ball point blunt needles and tapered blunt tip needles and their use have been known for many years. In the past blunt needles typically have been made by machining or grinding tapered needles to form a radiused blunt tip. Such a method is expensive, time consuming, and not conducive to economically producing large quantities of blunt needles at one time.